From Zero to Full Containers: How Charlton & Jenrick (UK) Conquered the French Market

The client

CHARLTON & JENRICK Ltd is a stove and fireplace manufacturer running on different fuels (electric, gas, and wood). The company is located in the United Kingdom and has +130 employees.

CHARLTON & JENRICK already had all the certifications to sell to distributors and clients in the EU. When the company contacted us, they were already exporting to the Netherlands and Spain.

CHARLTON & JENRICK was growing its network of importers-distributors, and France was the following country of interest to them.

The problem

CHARLTON & JENRICK had previously conducted a market study and partner search in France with another consulting firm. However, the former firm's efforts were hindered by identifying only small French resellers, not large enough to import in significant quantities to justify a collaboration. The meetings organized by the previous firm also did not yield the desired results, highlighting the challenges they faced.

CHARLTON & JENRICK wanted to find a large importer-distributor for the whole portfolio that can import at least one container of stoves per import procedure, store quantities in a warehouse, and distribute in the French market to smaller external resellers or multiple distributor-owned locations.

Significant Issues to Solve:

1. Searching partners in France fitting Charlton & Jenrick's criteria. Ensuring the partner type exists in France before moving forward.
2. Identifying the partners across the country
3. Finding an importer-importer and having a distribution agreement

The solution

We suggested that CHARLTON & JENRICK use our Distributor Search service. Based on a previous market study, they knew they had sales potential in France and that finding the right importer-distributor to work with (if such a partner existed) was the key.

Our mission for CHARLTON & JENRICK lasted 4 months, from the kick-off training session in September 2022 to the meetings with distributors in December 2022.

Process and Achievements:

1. Kick-off meeting and training session
2. Test list of 5 prospects to confirm distributor type and marketing materials in French 
3. Long list of 24 importers-distributors identified
4. Prospecting phase and interviewing distributors before setting up meetings
5. Scheduling meetings for our client with 3 potential importers-distributors
6. One importer-distributor selected by CHARLTON & JENRICK a few weeks later

The result

As a direct result of our Distributor Search service in France, CHARLTON & JENRICK selected one exclusive importer-distributor in France for their products. This led to direct sales in two months following the partner selection.

Our Client Achievements and Sales Results:

• Sent sample products for display to customers of its new distributor
• Our client staff was at the distributor's booth with their products at the next French tradeshow weeks later. They revealed there the newly signed partnership to customers
• Sales increased from 0 to multiple containers sold each year